The US Treasury has been tracking day-by-day debt
accumulation since the start of 1993, meaning daily debt
figures are available for the presidencies of Bill Clinton,
George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Trump.

In raw terms, Trump added the second-most debt of any recent
president. According to the Treasury data, the US added $2.07
trillion - $2,065,536,336,472.90 to be exact - in new debt
between Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017, and February
11, when the country pushed past $22 trillion. (The US added
another $2.8 billion through February 15, the latest daily
figures available.)

That is less than the $3.46 trillion added between Obama's
inauguration in January 2009 and February 11, 2011, but it is
more than the $676 billion added under Bush and the $617 billion
added under Clinton in their first 752 days as president.

One important difference between Trump's debt figures and Obama's
is that Trump has added a massive amount of debt while the US
economy has been strong, whereas Obama took over during the
depths of the financial crisis.

Economists typically recommend that the federal government
increase spending, and thus add more debt, during times of
economic struggles and then pay down that debt when the economy
recovers. So while economic theory would support Obama's spending
to help support the economy, Trump's recent debt binge has less
support among economists.

Looking ahead, recent legislative changes are expected to help
Trump catch up to some of his predecessors in the
debt-accumulation department.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the annual deficit
- the shortfall of federal revenue compared with spending in a
given fiscal year - will soon push past $1 trillion.
2018's budget deficit was the largest since 2012, when the US
was still dealing with the fallout from the recession.

Based on the CBO's projections, Trump will have accumulated $3.73
trillion in new debt by the end of the 2020 fiscal year, which,
because of federal budget rules, actually runs until the end of
September 2020. And by the end of fiscal 2024, the last year of
Trump's second term if he wins reelection, the total debt added
is projected to come in at $8.78 trillion.

A lot could change over that time period - adjustments to the tax
code that increase revenue or spending cuts would alter the CBO's
projections. But as it stands, Trump could add roughly the same
amount of debt as Obama over two terms.

source

Andy Kiersz/Business Insider

But while the raw debt figures are astonishing, putting the
accumulation in percentage terms provides a somewhat different
picture. Based on Treasury data and CBO projections:

The national debt grew by 15% through February 11 of
Clinton's first term and ended up growing by 36% by
the end of the 2000 fiscal year, the final full fiscal year of
his presidency.

The debt grew by 12% during Bush's first 752
days and grew by 75% when the 2008 fiscal year came to a close.

Under Obama's first two years and change,
the national debt grew by 33%, and it grew by 84% by the end of
the 2016 fiscal year.

The debt grew 10% in Trump's first 752 days
and is projected to grow by 44% by the end of the 2024 fiscal
year.